Anthony Steel

Actor

Male

BornMay 21, 1920

Anthony Maitland Steel was an English actor and singer best known for his appearances in British war films of the 1950s such as The Wooden Horse (1950), and his marriage to Anita Ekberg. He was described as "a glorious throwback to the Golden Age of Empire... the perfect Imperial actor, born out of his time, blue-eyed, square-jawed, clean-cut.… Read More

related links

News + Updates

'The show will begin at 7 pm with a performance by Wayne&#39;s Mad <mark>Anthony Steel</mark> Drum Band. Mad Anthony&#39;s Pan Handlers was started up by Ned Baker, the band director and music arranger. Recently the band has been under the directorship of Christine Letcher'

'This UK-produced film, made in black-and-white, is based on the novel of the same name by the popular war author, Sidney Charles George, and stars Claudette Colbert, Jack Hawkins and <mark>Anthony Steel</mark>. A supporting actor, primarily known as a classical'

In 1952 British exhibitors voted him the fourth most popular British star and he was seen as the successor to Stewart Granger.
… Read More

He supported Jack Warner in a thriller, Emergency Call (1952). Rank tried Steel in a comedy, Something Money Can't Buy (1952), but the public response was not enthusiastic. Later they put him back in war films such as The Planter's Wife (1952) and Malta Story (1953), the genre in which audiences seemed to enjoy him most. He rarely carried a movie alone, usually supporting a better known star, such as Claudette Colbert, Errol Flynn, Alec Guinness, Peter Finch or Bette Davis. Read Less

Steel had an affair with actress Patricia Roc in 1952 while they were co-starring in Something Money Can't Buy, resulting in a son, Michael.
… Read More

Both Steel and Roc were married at the time, he to Juanita Forbes and she to André Thomas, but the latter was unable to have children, so Thomas agreed to bring up Michael as his own. Read Less

Nonetheless, he was popular and in 1954 he and Dirk Bogarde were the highest paid actors with the Rank Organisation with a reported salary of £15,000 a film.
… Read More

Still, he was not happy with his roles. "In America, they build their male stars by starring them opposite exciting women," he said. "What do they give me? Elephants, crocodiles and giraffes." However, in Passage Home he was cast opposite Diane Cilento. "At last I can prove that I have blood in my veins and can make love to a woman," said Steel. "You know how the public identify themselves with the stars. Well; they think that an actor who gets the girl all the time — especially if she is very glamorous — must really have something." Read Less

Steel, then 35, was engaged to his secretary, Anne Hanson, age 20, in 1954.
… Read More

They had two daughters and a son but did not marry.<br /><br /> His engagement and subsequent marriage to Ekberg was widely publicised at the time. Ekberg later claimed he hit her: When he wasn't drunk he was charming and cultured, intelligent, a sense of humour. Too bad he got on that road. He would start arguments with anybody after one drink too much and then he would get violent." Read Less

195636 Years Old
In 1956 Steel married Swedish actress Anita Ekberg and together they moved to Hollywood, with mixed results.
… Read More

He broke his contract with the Rank Organisation - for whom he was meant to star in The Secret Place (1957) - received bad publicity for fighting with Ekberg and attacking paparazzi, and was arrested twice for drunk driving. During his time in Hollywood he appeared in one film, the little-seen Valerie (1957). It was announced he would be in a film to be made in Spain, Tetuan, but this did not come to fruition.<br /><br /> Steel returned to Britain but was unable to regain his earlier popularity. His most prestigious role was in a film directed by Michael Powell, Honeymoon (1959), but it was one of Powell's least known works. John Davis, head of the Rank Organisation was known to be furious about Steel having left the company earlier after the support they had given him, and this was thought to have harmed his chances at reviving his career. Steel was also hurt that the sort of war films in which he had made his name were going out of fashion. Read Less

FORTIES

In 1960 Steel went missing for a week from a luxury hotel in Germany, leading to a two-nation search.
… Read More

He later turned up in Rome, claiming he had just gone there to discuss another film. Read Less

In 1960 Steel moved to Rome and lived there for the next decade.
… Read More

His roles grew smaller and less prestigious, such as appearing as Sir Stephen in the Just Jaeckin film adaptation of Story of O (1975).<br /><br /> By the 1970s he had returned to Britain where he appeared in number of TV shows such as Bergerac, The Professionals, Robin of Sherwood and Crossroads. After stage tours in the 1980s he rarely worked, and later lived for a number of years in a tiny flat in Northolt, west London. His then agent, David Daly, said that: <br /><br /> He was a very private man. He just decided that he would withdraw. He found a place to live and simply went into hiding. In some ways, it was not unlike him; if he decided that things weren't right, he would withdraw into himself and not contact anybody.<br /><br /> Daly arranged for him to stay at Denville Hall, a London retirement home for actors. Not long before he died he had a guest role in the TV series The Broker's Man. Read Less

LATE ADULTHOOD

200181 Years Old
Anthony Steel died from lung cancer in Northolt, Middlesex in 2001, aged 80.
… Read More

At the height of his career, British exhibitors voted Steel among the most popular local stars in the country.<br /><br /> Ann Hanson and Anthony Steel have a daughter Penelope Ann Steel born 5 August 1955. Read Less